6th Sunday of Easter (Cycle A, Year II)

Community Word: Love for God’s word emboldens our hearts for the New Evangelization.

Theme:  Our hearts are emboldened for the New Evangelization when we love God and obey His commandments.

Promise: “Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him.” (Jn 14:21)

Reflection 
Jesus gives us His commandment of love and promises a gift which will make this love possible – the Holy Spirit, who will be our comforter, guide, teacher and defender, who will teach and remind us of the sacrificial love of Christ and empower us to respond to that pure and unconditional love by being supportive of one another, just as Christ has loved His Church and early disciples.  Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit to be the energy and staying power in our life of faith.

Our Community theme for this 6th Sunday of Easter – Love for God’s word emboldens our hearts when we love God and obey His commandments, encourages us to love Jesus more deeply and obey him more faithfully by relying upon His power in our lives.  An intimate relationship with Him leads to willing, devoted, joyful obedience.  The deeper our intimacy with Him is, the greater the impact on our lives and our ability to spread His word.   Obedience and love go together.   Obedience is a proof of love, a fruit and effect of love.

When Jesus said, “I will not leave you orphans, I will come back to you” (Jn 14:18), He was referring to His resurrection and His return to the apostles at Easter.   But even now, He keeps this promise and pledge of eternal life to us in the Holy Eucharist where He comes to us in His risen presence in the form of bread and wine to be our strength and continuing spiritual sustenance.  In the Eucharist, Jesus fulfills the promise to us never to leave us orphans, no matter what situations or circumstances we may face.  In Jesus, we have more than just an image of divine attributes.  He is God in the flesh, and when we gaze upon Him, we behold our Lord, our God.

“If you keep my commandments, my Father and I will reveal ourselves to you and come to you” (Jn 14:21).  Clearly, we need to keep His commandments if we want to claim Jesus’s promise that He and the Father will come to us.  But to obey His commandments, we need to know Jesus more, follow His teachings, and enter into a deeper relationship with Him.  These steps will enable us to experience not only His presence, but that of the Father and the Holy Spirit.  We need to make sure that our life is faithful to our Mighty God.  Our relationship with God involves a much deeper and more profound love, the kind of love that never ends.

Jesus’ promise – “We will come to him and make our home with him,” shares God’s life more powerfully.  The word for this month: Love for God’s word emboldens our hearts for the New Evangelization, tells us that it is our love for and adherence to God’s word that will equip us for the New Evangelization and enable to walk with courage and confidence into the future.  We love and obey Him when we go out and the world recognizes us as His disciples by the love we bear for one another, and the love we share with others.

God’s reign should not be a light only in the places where we live and work, but far beyond, shining brightly as we share, give personal witness to, and proclaim the Good News of God’s saving power to all nations.

Prayer
Lord we thank you for calling us into our Community.  May there be absolute trust among us as we share many things and work together.  We pray that the values we have grown to believe in, may become part of us in every circumstances, and that we may remain one because of that inner bond that unites us – our Savior, our Risen Lord, our Precious Jesus.  Amen.

Reflection Questions:
1.Do we obey Jesus in the essentials of our everyday lives?

2.Do we love our brothers and sisters enough to lighten the burdens they are carrying?

This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
May 25, 2014 (Sun)    Acts 8:5-8,14-17/Ps 66:1-3,4-5,6-7,16-20/1Pt 3:15-18/Jn 14:15-21
May 26, 2014 (Mon)    Acts 16:11-15/Ps 149:2-2,3-4,5-6,9/Jn 15:26-16:4
May 27, 2014 (Tues)   Acts16:22-34/Ps 138:1-2,2-3,7-8/Jn 16:5-11
May 28, 2014 (Wed)    Acts 17:15, 22-18:1/Ps 148:1-2,11-12,13,14/Jn 16:12-15
May 29, 2014 (Thur)   Acts 18:1-8/Ps 98:1,2-3,3-4/Jn 16:16-20
May 30, 2014 (Fri)      Acts 18:9-18/Ps 47:2-3,4-5,6-7/Jn 16:20-23
May 31, 2014 (Sat)     Zep 3:14-18/ Is 12:2-3,4,5-6/Lk 1:39-56

“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ.  Read your Bible daily!”

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